


A Father’s Advice

by AyashiTetsuko132



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Comfort Food, Family, Gen, One Shot, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 04:24:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18380903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyashiTetsuko132/pseuds/AyashiTetsuko132
Summary: HIs father told him to never, ever leave home without it.





	A Father’s Advice

**Author's Note:**

> Happened right before Lupin began teaching at Hogwarts.

The sun had not even risen yet, but Remus J. Lupin already had all his belongings packed neatly in the living room of his tumbledown, semi-derelict cottage. Ready to depart whenever its owner calls for it.

All of his personal needs --clothes, shoes, toiletries-- were packed neatly in a medium-sized wardrobe trunk. There were not too many things that he needed in this aspect of his life; there was even no need to magically enhance the trunk to fit them all. He had gotten himself accustomed to live with less, and he liked how easy it felt.

The chest on its side was a different story though. It had been magically enhanced to contain a small room filled with his books and vinyls collection; this was where he put the old gramophone that he inherited from his maternal grandfather. He just could not live without it. If there was anything from the Muggle side of his family that he proudly inherited, it was their love of good old jazz.

(But then again, unlike _some people_ in this community, he was never one to be ashamed of his heritage, anyway)

In the other side of the room, another small chest continued to rattle and shake, as if whatever creature inside it was trying to get out. Luckily the chest had been double-locked with enchanted padlock.

A Grindylow inside a tank near the chest stared at the chest mockingly, as if ridiculing the creature for being stuck inside --or expecting it to come out and rebel against the wizard that had put it in there, ready for transport.

Once Lupin was sure that he had carried everything that he needed to start a new semester at Hogwarts, he took a deep breath and threw himself to an old sofa (that he once discovered being neglected outside of a Muggle’s empty house, and had been repaired with various charms since).

It was hard to believe that he would be back at Hogwarts.

It seemed like only yesterday Prof. Dumbledore showed up in his parents’ house to tell them something impossible: That their only son would be going to school like any other wizard-children. Ever since then, the end of August was always occupied with school books shopping, incoming and outgoing owls, and last minute afternoon stroll to enjoy the last bits of summer holiday. Then he would on board that train to make sweet, exciting memories with his friends …

As if he was abruptly woken up from a dream, Lupin decided not to continue on musing about the friendship he had built in the school.

The front pages of _Daily Prophet_ in the past days had made him uneasy. He could not afford to get anxious before such a long journey.

The wizard then got up from the sofa and moved towards the kitchen. He needed to have some breakfast before he left for the train station in London, but there was nothing in his refrigerator but a large apple, a Honeydukes chocolate bar, and a bottle of milk, which he suspected had gone sour yesterday. He tapped the apple with his wand, muttered a cleaning charm, and enjoyed the fruit while wondering if he had ever made any happy memories prior to his arrival at Hogwarts.

His conclusion was that he did. Particularly before that foul creature let himself into his bedroom and left him with both literal and figurative wounds.

A period in life when he was free to go through his days without having to adjust to the moon calendar. When he was free to make new friends. When he was free from pain and disconnection from his own body and mind.

Bloody hell, he even managed to make happy memories _after_ he was bitten by the werewolf Greyback.

Once a month he would wake up on the floor of the family’s attic, skin flaming with pain from the scars he inflicted upon himself. He would be naked, dirty, and uncomfortable, covered by blood, sweat, fur, and sometimes even piss. When he was about five or six, his initial reaction would be to cry for his parents. But as he grew up, he would swallow everything in and crawled towards the door.

Either way, when he reached the door, there was always a helping hand greeting him.

He knew how hard it was for his parents to do it, but they always took him down from the attic with a comforting smile. _Remus dear. That must have hurt! Come, let Mummy clean them for you._

They would always let him stay in bed all day, with his father sitting on the bedside. Father would always had a chocolate bar with him; the family did not have much, but the wizard made sure that he always had a supply in hand. He would also read books to his son, and told him everything that he had seen on his way back from work.

When young Lupin could no longer find his friends, for their parents had forbid them to play with him, his father would cast him a Patronus to accompany him to sleep and slip another bar of chocolate under his pillow. _Don’t tell your Mum. You’ll feel better soon._

As he got older, a chocolate bar would be the first thing that the young wizard looked for the morning after his transformation. To consume the delicacy had become such a habit that when he caught his father crying in the study after a full moon, or when his mother spent a little too long in the bathroom after they found out that another potion had failed to cure his condition, Lupin would console himself by taking a bite from his secret stash in the bedroom.

His guilt would never go away, but at least he would be able to breathe. For the relief would prevent his tears from falling.

_Chocolates. Isn’t it amazing what they can do. Never, ever leave home without it. You’ll never know!_

Years ago, Lupin was working in a Muggle bookstore where he stumbled upon a literature that explained how chocolate bars stimulates the production of endorphin. The chemical in the brain that created feelings of pleasure. This is the reason why it seemed to work really after a traumatic event. That may had been the scientific way of explaining how magic works; he liked the writing so much that he copied and sent it to his father.

Once his apple was finished, Lupin gazed towards the kitchen wall, where there were two type of clocks hanging: The kind that would be available in every houses in Britain, and a moon-clock showing the different phases of the moon. He decided that it would be time to leave. Platform 9 ¾, as far as he could remember, was always suffocatingly crowded on September 1. Since he was planning to sleep on the way to the school, better get there as early as possible and secure a nice spot to sit.

Lupin got up and moved to the direction of the living room. However, as if he was hesitating, he suddenly stopped and turned towards the refrigerator.

What could possibly happen on the way to school?

But considering his father’s advice (and years of trainings in the defense against the Dark Arts), he opted to _Accio_ the chocolate bar from inside the fridge and keep it in the pocket of his long coat.

Just in case.

**Author's Note:**

> PS. I have just started watching the Harry Potter movies after being an exclusively book fan for more than 10 years. LOL. If there is anything I really like about the movies, is the part where Lupin plays a jazz song in his class.


End file.
